Herriot is glad that if only one dog could be saved it was one who has such an important task in life. The hymn is commonly sung to the hymn tune All Things Bright And Beautiful, composed by William Henry Monk in 1887. Training as an RAF pilot in the smoke and bustle of London is a far cry from James Herriot’s day job as a country vet in the Yorkshire Dales.

One day, Wesley adopts a dog who has distemper, and takes on an actual job to pay Herriot for treatment. Charming, funny and touching, All Things Wise and Wonderful is a heart-warming story of determination, love and companionship from one of Britain’s best-loved authors. Training as an RAF pilot in the smoke and bustle of wartime London is a far cry from James Herriot’s day job as a country vet in the Yorkshire Dales. review: All Things Wise and Wonderful is James Herriot’s third book recounting his adventures as a veterinarian in Yorkshire, England. Material from his books has also been adapted as a film, All Creatures Great and Small (1975), as a television series of the same name in 1978 and another in 2020.These memories, as it were, serve as James’ life preserver and the instigator to go back-in-time, spinning more vet adventure yarns for the readers.

Wight was just as interested in their owners as he was in his patients, and his writing is, at root, an amiable but keen comment on the human condition. But one of the horses of such a client is choking while Herriot is there, and he realizes it’s an allergic reaction, and cures the horse with one shot. The following Christmas, James visits her house again, and sees the little kitten, now a cat, playing with the client’s Basset Hounds. James Herriot (1916–1995) was the pen name of James Alfred “Alf” Wight, an English veterinarian whose tales of veterinary practice and country life have delighted generations.

Voices United: The Hymn and Worship Book of the United Church of Canada, (Toronto: The United Church Publishing House, c. His books are always amusing, but some of the stories in this one had me tearing up, I was laughing so hard. Now here's a third delightful volume of memoirs rich with Herriot's own brand of humor, insight, and wisdom, and the basis for the PBS Masterpiece drama. And while he is keen to serve Queen and country, James cannot help but miss his life in Darrowby – despite frequent arguments between his colleagues, bad-tempered cattle and equally irritable farmers, and the continuing saga of Cedric the flatulent dog. Times are especially hard for Herriot right now, since his wife is almost ready to deliver their baby, back home.

James and Tristan spent the night looking for the dog which eventually is found on its own front porch, Lydia comes back a few times to yell at Tristan in the process, but by the time Siegfried comes home, Tristan is hard at work studying. I'm glad I read this again, especially now that I know more about the author's real life and can see some of the more private thoughts reflected in the pages here. And furthermore, finally, I also am aware of the fact that certain readers have in the past somewhat chafed at James Herriot's humourous and in no way all that ashamed or contrite depictions of going repeatedly AWOL from his RAF training to visit his pregnant wife (something that I for one both much understand and even accept if not rather condone, but I do know and appreciate that this could rub some individuals very much the wrong way). It is brutally honest and deals with uncomfortable situations, but all the same it is a delightful read, one that I would find myself wasting time on when I should have been doing something else!

It's not as happy or bubbly as some of his other books, but, now that I've reread it as a card-carrying adult, I now realize it may be the most touching of all the books. James takes his frustration out on Shep, not allowing him to scare him, but later sees that Shep is still himself, scaring a local tinker. The vet stories are told as flashbacks, which takes some of the steam out of them, while the RAF stories never really get off the ground.